Monday, October 6, 2014

The latest theatrical masterpiece from EMP Collective RISES THIS OCTOBER.POTATOES OF AUGUSTby Sybil KempsonTwo middle-aged couples are sent into spiraling existential crises when they discover a growing sack of sentient potatoes. These potatoes have brains, have read their Swedenborg, and DON’T. PLAY. FAIR.Rapidly growing in number and intellect, the potatoes unravel the couples' carefully curated realities.Parts kitchen sink drama, musical comedy, intimate biographical portraiture, museum educational presentation, opera, Renaissance fair, science fiction, science fair, and phenomenological debate, Potatoes of August swells and swirls on a vision quest for a different kind of understanding of the world around us.

On NPR: "Baltimore’s EMP Collective is getting ready to stage an experimental play by Sybil Kempson, and to call it ‘experimental’ is an understatement. When The Signal’s Aaron Henkin dropped in at a rehearsal, all he knew about the play is that it features a trio of sentient potatoes. After his visit, he understood even less. Here’s Aaron’s attempt at a preview of The Potatoes of August." http://wypr.org/post/glow-o-s-taxidermy-artist-robert-marbury-painted-screens-and-potatoes-august

Friday, June 27, 2014

Our latest gallery show, We're All Strangers Here, opens Friday, June 27th.Inner worlds collide into extraterrestrial landscapes as artists create new terrains to be interpreted, reinterpreted, and to get lost in.We're All Strangers Here features the installation works of Gina Alexandra Denton, April Camlin, Hoesy Corona, Nikki Painter, Lisa Krause, and Laure Drogoul.This show is organized by curator Sara Barnes and EMP Artistic Director, Carly J. Bales.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Ishi’s
Brain is a show by Lisa Krause and Eamon Espey that incorporates
shadow puppets, a marionette, masks and a liberal use of painted cardboard.
It is based on a chapter in Eamon Espey’s new graphic novel, Songs of the Abyss published
by Secret Acres. The initial inspiration comes from the true story, but is by no means a historical re-enactment. Krause and Espey’s performance focuses on a lone spirit in his final days and an alien shaman who helps guide the dead into the next world. Original soundtrack by Stephen Santillian of Baltimore bands Ghost Life and Thank You.

Photo: Michel Anderson

Eamon Espey is a
cartoonist based in Baltimore whose books include Wormdye (2008) and Songs of the Abyss (2012). Both were published by Secret Acres.His work has appeared in art shows in
such places as Los Angeles, Istanbul, and New York and in print in Sweden’s Galago
Magazine and Washington DC’s Bash
Magazine.

Songs of the Abyss further examines and diagrams all things spiritual
and grotesque. Ancient Egyptian gods birth Biblical giants, Santa Claus is an
agent of the Devil and a scientist performs sadistic experiments in search of
enlightenment. All is rendered in black ink with scalpel like precision. The cover
remains true to the hand crafted aesthetic in that it is a stained glass design handmade by the author specifically for the book.

Link to Songs of the Abyss reviewed on IndieReaderLisa Krause is a trained
sculptor and has been an Associate Artist with Black Cherry Puppet Theater
since 2009. She has studied traditional marionette carving in the Czech
Republic and recently just spent a month living and performing with the
anarchist theater group, Bread and Puppet. Krause facilitates puppetry
workshops and has performed with Black Cherry at schools, recreation centers and
community festivals across Maryland, Virginia and at the National Theater in
Washington D.C.She has also
performed in the streets of Prague and the beautiful hillsides of Vermont.

Photo: Michel Anderson

SONGS OF THE ABYSS Book Release and Ishi's Brain Performance Dates (Spring 2013):

There was a national tour in April 2013- May 2013 which included 15 bookings and appearances at Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo in Columbus, OH and Stumptown Comic Festival in Portland, OR.

We arrived at the Hollywood Theater on Friday afternoon to
unload our show for Saturday’s Gridlords 12 performance.The Hollywood is an impressive old
art-deco theater from the early 1900s.

We got there a little early and saw the show listed on the marquee, as
well as our photo on the upcoming events poster.

After meeting some of the theater’s staff, we were
shown around. The room where we would perform seats around 300 people, and
has a stage and large screen for film/projection.We were led through a dressing room area past the mirrors
and makeup lights to the back stage area.The room had ancient wooden floors and old cinema equipment with the
large letters for the marquee stacked in neat piles on tables.We picked a safe space to store all of
our stuff and headed out to start unloading the car.

During that time, we met Sean Christiansen- the organizer of
Gridlords, Emily Nielson who would co-M.C., and several of the other artists
who would be performing with us.

Sean and Emily during Gridlords 12.

Sean had been amazing the whole time preparing for the show.He arranged for interviews and did
amazing publicity for the show. As
more people arrived for tech meetings, we all got more excited.Having an event at a venue this large
was a first for both Gridlords and us- and it was looking to be a really great show.I really admired Sean’s excitement and
ability to organize such a huge ongoing event series for Portland’s comics
community.

We unloaded into the theater and spread our things across
the stage.We began building our
puppet stage so that we could spike the projection screen to make setting up
forSaturday’s show as easy as
possible.We were one of 4 acts
performing, but the show also included projections and live music. Lots to
stage manage!

We chose to go first because of our setup/breakdown time and
stored our things before going to check in at Stumptown Comic Fest.I grabbed the poor broken Ishi marionette
and we headed over to Oregon Convention Center in our much lighter car.

busted marionette.

After checking in, Eamon returned to the car with our
badges- remarking about how huge the place is.This was our first time on the west coast for a comic
convention, and we were excited to be there in support of Eamon’s new book, our
tour, and Secret Acres.Next to
fix the puppet.We then headed to
the hardware store near Scott Harrison’s house, where we would be staying for
the weekend. Scott Harrison is a renowned tattoo artist, painter, and raconteur.

I was excited to meet Scott, because Eamon has talked about
him so highly over the years. He had been an influential teacher for Eamon when he was in school,
but their relationship flourished over the years as penpals.Sharing work and ideas through writing,
they’ve discussed everything from technique to personal politics to health
issues and the joy and pain of following your artistic goals. Scott swung open the door and gave Eamon
shit immediately, in the manner of one of my favorite type of Chicago smartass
friends.He then got me to work
immediately fixing my marionette in his impressive basement woodworking
studio.In a short while we headed
out to get some drinks while the glue dried.

It was a nice evening meeting Scott and his wife
Jennifer.They were very warm and
welcoming, and we were able to really relax with them. During our stay we got to see some of Scott's most recent paintings, as well as some older work.

so good it hurts

Scott Harrison

Saturday morning we left for the convention.We’d heard that “Stumptown ain’t what
it used to be” but we were still looking forward to the convention.I always find the comic fests to be
pretty fun, because there are always really excited people there and lots of
interesting things that people make.They can be exhausting, but its fun for me because I get to talk about
the great work by all the artists Secret Acres publishes and explain the things
I like about each of the books. I imagine its harder if you actually are one of
those artists representing yourself.Its also great to see old friends from across the country.

Eamon and I at Stumptown.

The fest had a really positive atmosphere. While there were
a few weird costumes of mainstream superheroes or steampunks, they kinda kept
us from getting bored because it was unusual to see people in costume at any
comic show I’ve ever been to.Plus
they kept acting weird so it was pretty funny.

Steampunks IRL- featuring awesome home-made costumes.

I had a lot of fun and Eamon sold many books and a ton of
T-shirts.We promoted the
Gridlords show while talking to people about our wares and many people were
excited about coming to the event.

The show that night was insane.Nearly 200 people came to watch.We went first.By the time we’d gotten to Portland, we had performed the show 10 times
and felt totally ready.It was
very exciting to do our show in such a professional venue.It was also very meaningful because while many people there were friends others were also comic
artists familiar with Eamon’s work that may not have known what to expect when
hearing that he’d co-created a puppet show.

Before we started, I noticed Scott sitting front and center as well as a few other friends.

I was excited to perform with Chelsea Kamm, a friend from last year’s Bread and Puppet internship.I had invited her to join the show, and couldn’t wait to see her shadow puppetry with Many Fur Puppet Troupe.

At the convention on Sunday, many people came to our table
remarking about how much they loved our show.It meant so much to me.We have a lot of respect for the
independent comics community in Portland- especially those closest to Dylan
Williams.I’m happy that they
enjoyed our performance.

After the convention we headed to Eugene to stay with
Chelsea.We had a fun night
talking with her, and said goodbye in the morning as she headed to teach her
German students.

We went to
breakfast at a hippie place in town. As we were paying for parking, a serious
burnout was leaning over a newspaper box near the train station.He was intently staring at his
ticket.Without looking up he said“…Hey. hey dude.…What does this mean: ‘RETAIN during trip’…does that mean they’re going to be watching me?”Wow.It was like he was
hired to fulfill the stereotype of Eugene.

Everything in Eugene seemed to move at that pace, and as we
drove we felt we were on a spiral of some sort, until we found the Jiffylube
where we obtained the fastest most non-bullshit customer service of our
lives.The people that worked
there were seriously running from car to car- shouting information and
recording things as if it was an Emergency Room.I couldn’t believe how they worked.It was as if the entire life force of
city’s population was demonstrated by the 5 people working there.

We headed out of town for a strange trip down the California
coast, made stranger by a slowly developing head cold that Eamon first
attributed to the strangeness of Eugene, and later Eureka.

Next up: Northern California into San Francisco and Los Angeles to Joshua Tree.

(b.1979) is a mixed media artist/puppeteer who lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. Native to Illinois and 2007 graduate of Northeastern Illinois University where she focused her BA on art-based research with youth in psychology and recycled materials in sculptural installation. Currently, Lisa facilitates art workshops for adults and youth in rough neighborhoods, builds puppets and shrines, and participates in solo, group, and puppet shows.